After covering Twitter in our last Web 101 post, it only seemed right to follow up with Instagram. There’s a huge overlap between user-bases (the same is true for Instagram and Facebook, and we’ll be covering Facebook next week), which is partly why Instagram works effectively as part of any social media campaign.

What is Instagram? Instagram is a photo-sharing social-media platform accessed primarily from mobile devices. You take a picture, apply a filter, and post it with a caption and some hashtags. You can also take short videos, but we’d suggest using Vine for that.Who uses Instagram? 13% of all Internet users have an Instagram account. The app’s most popular with females and the under-30s. This article should give you a good idea of who’s using Instagram, how often, and in what way.Why should you care? Marketing! And selfies, if you’re that way inclined (but save those for your personal account). Images get more shares than text-based posts, and good images get more shares than average ones. And Instagram can make average pictures look good. You can post your Instagram pictures to your other social media accounts, so you’ll benefit from having more shareable images everywhere online.Is Instagram good for marketing? 43% of the top 100 brands use Instagram on a daily basis, so that’s a pretty good indication that yes, Instagram is good for marketing. We’re on it too, and you can find us here. Instagram compliments most other platforms, so you should definitely consider integrating it into your existing social media campaign. If you’re unsure how to start, here are some ideas:

Post a popular (and relevant) meme

Take a behind-the-scenes picture of your business

Use it to reveal new products

Take part in a trend like #TBTs (Throwback Thursdays — an old picture of a member of staff each week, or a picture from when your business first started)

Start a trend of your own — don't forget to use a hashtag!

Need help setting things up? Want to make more of your Instagram presence? Sign up to get Ghost Tips and we’ll show you how!